Step 2. Run the installation. The software will
automatically start up and open a web browser with your control
panel.

Step 3. Follow the instructions to Start
Folding.

Stanford University will send your computer a folding problem to
solve. When your first job is completed, your computer will swap
the results for a new job.

What is protein folding?

Proteins are biology's workhorses- its "nanomachines." Proteins
help your body break down food into energy, regulate your moods,
and fight disease. Before proteins can carry out these important
functions, they assemble themselves, or "fold." While protein
folding is critical and fundamental to virtually all of biology
much of the process remains a mystery.

When proteins do not fold correctly (misfolding), there can be
serious health consequences, including many well known diseases,
such as Alzheimer's, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, AIDS, Huntington's,
Parkinson's disease, and many cancers.

If we better understand protein misfolding we can design drugs
and therapies to combat these illnesses.

How you can help right now.

Start Folding by
downloading and running the free Folding@home software from
Stanford University. Once installed the software runs behind the
scenes using otherwise unused computing time.

Your computer's calculations provide us valuable data for our
research into protein folding.

You'll get feedback along the way if you want it, or you can
just let it run. You might not even notice how much work is
going on.